Resilience, Representation Rising ABOVE

As Africa's first model with albinism, Refilwe Modiselle helped change how people view difference. A decade later, she's not done telling her story

- CHARNDRÉ EMMA KIPPIE

a photography studio has rarely been filled with so much exuberance, so much passion and flair! As Refilwe Modiselle steps on set for our photo shoot, her light beams brightly, setting the tone for the day ahead. With her warm energy and her bold voice and demeanour, she proves that walking in grace and strength is what sets her apart.

Early Light & Unseen Shadows

Born in Soweto in the mid-80s, Refilwe was raised as one of three daughters in a world that didn’t know what to do with someone who didn’t ‘look like them’. But her parents raised her so well and with so much love, she was set up for success. Sadly, her father passed away during her formative years, when she was 11 years old, but she still had her hardworking mom who pushed through every struggle to make a good home for her children.

“I was born in Rockville but we moved to the city when I was a toddler. We moved quite a bit until we eventually settled down in Orange Grove, which is where I grew up mostly, after my dad passed away,” she says. “I went to good schools, Johannesburg Girls Prep and Jeppe Girls’ High... My mom, even with her struggles as a single parent, worked very hard to raise us well. We turned out successful, regardless of the trials and tribulations.”

As she moved through school, her academic promise was clear and visible, but so were the taunts and bullying that often accompany someone whom society sees as ‘different’.